Syria has released Turkish journalists Adem Özköse and Hamit Coşkun after more than two months in custody.

Özköse, a columnist with the daily paper Milat who also reports for the magazine Gercek Hayat, and freelance cameraman Coşkun were detained by pro-government militiamen in mid-March.

As they celebrated their freedom, eight of the 13 Syrian journalists arrested in a raid on the offices of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM) in Damascus on 16 February, were also released.

The releases were greeted by press freedom watchdogs, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the International Press Institute (IPI).

But both bodies remain concerned about the five still in custody They include the media centre's chief Mazen Darwish and prominent blogger Hussein Ghrer.

And the Syrian government detained at least two more journalists last month - Salameh Kaileh, a writer for several Arabic newspapers and magazines and Mary Iskander Issa, a freelance journalist who writes for Arabic-language publications. Her husband, a doctor, was also detained.

"Syria must respect the right of journalists guaranteed under international law to report the news and release all imprisoned journalists immediately."

IPI's executive director Alison Bethel McKenzie said: "We call on the Syrian authorities to release the many other journalists and press freedom advocates who remain in custody and who are believed to be at risk of torture.

"If the Syrian government wants to show that it is serious about peace... it should begin by releasing Darwish and others from the SCM as part of its commitment to freeing arbitrarily detained prisoners."